Social class and perceived improvement in therapy: the effects of therapist discipline and therapy type

The present study approached the question of differential perception of improvement across social classes by various disciplines and therapeutic orientations. Records of 4,257 psychiatric patients were examined for type of therapy, discipline of therapist, rated improvement, and social class. For variables "type of therapy" and "discipline of therapist," the interaction term of analysis of variance was significant, indicating that some therapists (i.e., with a given therapeutic orientation) show greater differential among the social classes with regard to perceived improvement than others. Psychiatrists were found more reluctant to rate patients as improved, and responded less differentially among the classes than social workers and psychologists. With regard to therapeutic orientation used, therapists using family therapy or medication rated a higher percentage of patients improved in Class IV than in Class III. The results suggest that therapists with differential training backgrounds (either discipline or therapeutic orientation) have different perceptions of change in psychiatric patients, which may be due to their differential training.